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A judge has denied two Fullerton police officers' request to drop charges against them in the fatal beating of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man, according to court documents obtained by NBC4 on Friday.

In a Jan. 4 decision (PDF), Orange County Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg ruled there was enough "competent evidence to show the commission of a crime or the defendant's connection with it."

Kelly Thomas Case

According to the ruling, the judge didn't want to rule on whether or not reasonable force was used. Instead, that matter should be left to a jury, he wrote.